#2 Trio

Trio (1950)

directed by

Ken Annakin

Harold French

written by

W. Somerset Maugham

Noel Langley

R. C. Sherriff

We just watched Trio, the second Somerset Maugham anthology movie today and it's better than the first, Quartet. It kicks off with the best of the three stories, "The Verger," starring James Hayter and Kathleen Harrison. A middle-aged church verger is illiterate and forced out of his position of 17 years by a somewhat snobbish new priest (a young Michael Hordern). Like most of these stories, it's a low-key character piece that possesses not much sting, but some real charm. The second story, "Mr. Know-All," stars Nigel Patrick as the irritating but still terrific title character aboard a ship. The final story, "Sanatorium," stars Michael Rennie and Jean Simmons falling in love in a tb sanatorium.

Verdict: a keeper

James Hayter